New UHNM eye and tissue donation service launches with appeal to give patients the gift of sight
A new eye and tissue donation service has launched at University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM) with an appeal for more patients to give the gift of sight.
UHNM has become one of only ten NHS Trusts in the country to be commissioned by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) to set up its own in-house service.
This has enabled UHNM to appoint its first ever dedicated nurse for tissue and eye donation to help tackle a local and national shortage of cornea donors.
It’s hopped the new iORbIT service, which launched at Royal Stoke University Hospital last month, will receive more than 350 donations each year.
The cornea is the clear tissue at the front of the eye that lets light in allowing you to see.
Amber Norbury, Tissue and Eye Donation Nurse at UHNM said: “There is currently a national shortage of corneas, with patients waiting up to 78 weeks for an eye transplant after suffering from an eye disease, injury, or defect from birth. Almost anybody can donate their corneas after death. Age, poor eyesight, and other medical conditions, including cancer, are not necessarily a barrier to donation, however many people are still not aware of cornea donation. Even if you can’t donate your organs, you could still transform lives through the gift of sight.”
Amber will be supported by UHNM’s Bereavement Team to identify as many potential cornea donors as possible at Royal Stoke and ensure their families are aware they can donate their loved one’s sight.
Victoria Poole, Head of Bereavement and Medical Examiner Services at UHNM, said: “Corneas must be retrieved within 24 hours of death and prepared within 24 hours of retrieval. As part of the Eye and Tissue Donation service, both Amber and our Mortuary Service colleagues have received the necessary training to allow cornea retrievals in-house, speeding up the retrieval process.
“Patients and their loved ones might have a preconception about eye donation, but it is done respectfully, with the eyes reconstructed after retrieval, allowing them to look the same as they did before. It's worth knowing that almost anyone can donate their sight; it doesn't matter if you have poor eyesight, you could still donate and transform lives.”
“The new service follows a successful pilot scheme carried out between April and September 2023 by UHNM’s Specialist Organ Donation Nurses, which saw 40 successful cornea donations. The aim is now one a day thanks to the new in-house seven-day service.”
Amber said: “I’m very excited to start this new role at UHNM. I’ve looked after many organ donation patients in my previous role on UHNM’s Critical Care Unit and feel it’s a privilege to be part of that person’s and their family’s journey. It feels amazing to able to offer families the opportunity to help change the lives of others, providing them with a bit of comfort during a difficult time.
“It’s more important than ever for people to think of their own end-of-life wishes and make it known to their loved ones, so they are in support of it.”
To register your organ donation decision, visit: www.organdonation.nhs.uk call 0300 123 23 23 or use the NHS app In England.